IMW Book II: To Vanquish the Night's Shadows
by The Universal Storyteller
Summary: Another rather big Scout battle or two! Skyhorse spends time with Neptune and Uranus, among others. For more information, please R&R, people. Constructive criticism is welcome, of course! I hope you all enjoy this story!
1. Chapter 1

All characters that are definitely known to actually be part of the "Sailor Moon" Universe are actually the property of their owner or owners, where applicable. As are the settings of this particular story and any related stories I may write at any time. All other characters and/or settings that are non-native to the "Sailor Moon" Universe are actually of my own creation, unless otherwise stated. If they aren't actually of my own creation, they're actually the property and/or creation of their owner or owners, where applicable.

All poems and/or songs in, at least, this story or series of stories are copyright to and/or of their respective writers, performers, or authors, and/or their owners, wherever applicable, if I'm actually not their writer and/or owner as well. I claim nothing knowingly for my own, people, that isn't actually mine. Just like I'm doing for any other elements and characters that I mentioned in the previous paragraph here, I'm doing that for all of the said poems and/or stories, in fact, people. So the exact same disclaimer applies to them as it does for anything else related to this story and/or its series, at least, if not any other story or stories of mine. That's whenever possible, of course.

And please be aware that this story, at least, if not any others as well, may periodically delve into the areas of alternate timelines, realities, and/or universes, as well as have at least some OOC elements for any or all of the characters in it, at least a little bit, if not a lot. And it may or may not tie in with other stories of mine that might feature its main characters, at least on the protagonists' side of things, in fact.

This particular story series of mine here will mainly be set in one of at least eight different Zones of Earth. Specifically, this story series will mainly be set in the Jerusalem Zone of Earth. Other Zones of Earth that may be mentioned in this story series, at least, if not others as well, will be the Tokyo, Honolulu, Seattle, Chicago, Rio De Janeiro, London, and Calcutta Zones. Tokyo's the Alpha Zone, unless otherwise stated. Honolulu, Beta. Seattle, Gamma. Chicago, Delta. Rio De Janeiro, Epsilon. London, Zeta. And Calcutta, Theta. Jerusalem will be in the Eta Zone, then, by logical enough extension here, of course.

I hope that you all happen to enjoy this story quite considerably, and that you'll leave plenty of good reviews for it, while it's still in progress here, by the way. Much more of it will come later, if and whenever possible, in the future, people.

Now with no further ado, if we may, then, let's all get on with the story here, and see what happens next for the Scouts and anyone else they may or may not yet know in their lives, quite obviously enough! And away we go!

* * *

_Israel's Mighty Warriors_

_Book Two_

Chapter One

A few days later, at most, Sylvia and Rolando were walking with each other into DBJHS's main school building. It was now just about ten to fifteen minutes before school was due to start that day for them and many other people on the school's grounds. In fact, it was now Valentine's Day of 1991. They held hands all the way into that building, as many others watched them do so here.

As they did so, an Egyptian girl in the usual school uniform began to scowl secretly. This girl's name was Lisha Murkogat, and she was now about 16½ years old. She didn't yet know it, but she and others who she might eventually encounter would possibly find themselves often fighting against Sylvia and/or others in the future. Either as civilians or as Scouts, for that matter. She scowled because she didn't think Rolando and Sylvia should be holding hands in public like they now were. Much less being seen together at all, by the way.

Sylvia and Rolando stayed with each other for a while, before eventually having to part again, for the obvious reasons. After they did, Lisha suddenly charged Sylvia from behind without any warning, and knocked her flat on her stomach and face. She kicked Sylvia at least a few times before Sylvia could respond to the unwarranted attack on her person well enough. The girls fought for a few minutes before Sylvia could get the upper hand while defending herself as best as she could here well enough.

Four or so minutes after Lisha started the fight, Sylvia and Lisha were separated from each other here. Lisha had inflicted more pain and bruises on Sylvia in the fight than Sylvia had her. But Sylvia had begun defending herself quite a bit better when several teachers broke up the fight here, and she'd just about put Lisha down on the ground for a while with some better defensive techniques. The teachers broke up the fight, and sent both girls to the school nurse, one at a time, for the obvious reasons here, of course.

Lisha got after-school detention for two weeks, while Sylvia got none. For security cameras in the necessary hallway of the school had recorded the entire fight quite well. However, Sylvia had now made an enemy of Lisha, whether she knew it well enough yet or not. And Sylvia might have her injuries due to the fight for at least a while, for that matter. Especially on her arms and legs, perhaps. Which were where Lisha had sent a lot of her attacks on Sylvia here, in fact.

The news of the fight between Lisha and Sylvia began spreading through the school, not very long after it. By the end of the school day, it was at least spread through a quarter of the school's student body and/or faculty, if not more. As time went on, the news would probably spread even further than that in the school and the local area, if given enough of a chance to do that.

By about 4:15 pm, Sylvia and Rolando had both powered up and begun patrolling the local area, just in case any trouble might require their attentions there for a while. After they both powered up, they were Sailor Skyhorse and the Pilgrim, respectively. As they patrolled the area together, they often discussed assorted things that were then on their minds. Of course, Sylvia's fight with Lisha was one of those things.

Skyhorse said, "She jumped me for no good reason, my Beloved. I hadn't done anything to her before, as far as I know."

The Pilgrim considered this for a while, as they passed Christ Church on their rounds, before asking, "Do you have any idea of your own about what might have set her off then there well enough yet?"

"No, I don't. Kiena seems to think, however, that it might have had something to do with the fact that, according to the security tapes now in question, we were holding hands with each other earlier."

"So what if we were, Heart?"

"Kiena thinks that her seeing us doing so might have set Lisha off. I suppose it's possible. In fact, come to think of it, Lisha seems to look at least a little bit like the strange female who predicted we'd be dead within two years if you weren't married by the end of your 19th Birthday, if not a lot, or entirely, like that female."

"And if she does?"

"Then she does, my Beloved. I just hope I don't have to worry about that female again for the rest of the next year that's left to you before you're next due to have a birthday."

"But you have a feeling that you might still do so, just the same, Heart?"  
"Unfortunately, I do. I have this feeling that she and others might show up during future Scout battles, in fact, rather often. And do so, at least, until they're either converted to the side of Good or destroyed, whatever the case might be for them all, Rolando."

"What do you believe her religious belief system is?"

"Mohammedan, based on her obvious mother tongue of Arabic, on her actions, and on the fact that she was cursing a lot at me, calling me a pig and a Jew-lover, among other things. Many of which, I'd rather not repeat. For they're not suitable enough for me to say, or for you to her from me, I believe, being what we are in our lives. Yes, I do love the Jews, as I always have, and always will. I will always support them in their endeavors, if and/or whenever I possibly can. I will not stand idly by and let any Jew or Christian be attacked needlessly, if I can possibly avoid it. Not even by one such as Lisha Murkogat, if that is actually her real name."

* * *

Meanwhile, as the Pilgrim and Skyhorse were patrolling in the Jerusalem area, Zoisite was setting out to look for several people she could bring back to the Negaverse with her so that they might be recruited by the Negaverse to oppose Skyhorse's group of Scouts. She was now in a previously-unused building that had been constructed in mere days in the local area. Nobody else in the area who wasn't already affiliated with the Negaverse knew about it yet, and Zoisite hoped that would always remain the case. It had been built, in fact, by humanoid monsters, and it was always cloaked, even when occupied. Zoisite eventually left her new base of operations in the Jerusalem area, and went in search of possible allies for the Negaverse in the future. She hid her Negaverse uniform under a mostly gray and black robe.

Zoisite eventually came upon the now-black-robed Lisha. A black crystal in an interior pocket of Zoisite's Negaverse uniform began beeping quietly when Zoisite got within 240 yards of Lisha's location in the area. As Zoisite neared Lisha's position, the beeps got louder and louder, but not necessarily loud enough for any true human beings to hear them well enough here and now. Eventually Lisha and Zoisite collided with each other in a crowd of people in the Mohammedan-dominated part of Jerusalem. As they collided, Zoisite's crystal identified Lisha as the once and future Sailor Egypt.

As soon as it did, Zoisite said to Lisha, as their eyes met briefly, "Come with me, and you shall have revenge on those who hurt you long ago, young girl. There are many hurts you have to avenge, if at all possible. Come with me, and they just might be."

"Who are you, and why are you here?"

"Come with me, and all your questions will be answered in very short time, hopefully."

About two minutes or so later, after thinking about Zoisite's words for a little while, Lisha said, "As you wish, strange woman." Lisha soon followed Zoisite back to her new base of operations in the area.

Ten minutes after they arrived there, at most, Zoisite and Lisha were in the Negaverse together. Five minutes after that, they were conversing with Queen Beryl.

After about twenty minutes or so of conversation between Lisha, Zoisite, and Queen Beryl in Beryl's throne room, Beryl said, "Lisha, you will become Sailor Egypt, Dark Scout of the Negaverse, in short order. May the powers you once had return, so that you can defeat the forces of Good like you had often done in the past! Zoisite, prepare her for battle, and do so to the best of your current ability. You have until the first of March in the Humans' current calendar year to prepare her for her first battle as Sailor Egypt. Do not fail me."

"As you command, so shall it be, Queen Beryl."

"Now off with you both. I have much to do that now must be done, and so do you both."

Zoisite and Lisha left Beryl's presence almost immediately afterward. And they began trying to prepare for Lisha's first battle as Sailor Egypt, once they'd done so well enough. This remained the case until about 7:30 pm Jerusalem time, when Zoisite returned Lisha to Earth again, for the obvious reasons here. By the time that Zoisite did so, Lisha had acquired at least a few things that she might quite often use in the future. And a cat, for that matter. After Zoisite returned Lisha to Earth again, Lisha returned to her family's residence shortly thereafter. She stayed there for the rest of the night, of course.

* * *

Meanwhile, as Lisha returned to her family's residence, Skyhorse and the Pilgrim powered down again, and became Sylvia and Rolando again in their respective lives. They stayed with each other until about 9:30 or so, before parting from each other for the rest of the night. Sylvia went to the cavern, and Rolando went home, when they parted. When she got there, she saw Rebecca, Martha, and Ulysses there, along with Kiena and Tatiana.

Sylvia soon asked Kiena, "Why are my siblings here now, Kiena?" But only once it was safe enough for her to do so, of course.

"Trinity, Mir, and I saw them near your family's residence looking for you while we were patrolling elsewhere in the area. They didn't want to go back there again without seeing you again well enough."

"I see. They must not remember you girls bringing them here to see me, then, Kiena. This, of course, is for all the obvious reasons."

"I can't erase, or block, or alter, their memories of us doing so, I believe. And I don't think any of the other Scouts can do that either. Not even you, for that matter, may be able to, as far as I know."

Sylvia thought for a minute or two, and then said, all of a sudden, "Call Irene Shekovinski. Have her come here with the people she and her cats initiated as Scouts on my birthday. And with her cats, while we're at it. Perhaps with at least twenty heads considering this matter, we'll come up with a good enough solution."

"This may not necessarily be fair to your siblings, you know, to have their memories erased, altered, or blocked here, Sylvia."

"I'm fully aware of that, Kiena. But they must be protected as best as they currently can be."

"And so do the Scouts and their various allies?

"Yes, of course, Kiena."

"I don't like this idea one bit, you know."

"Nor do I, in fact. But we still have to try to protect everyone that we can protect who needs our protection to the best of our abilities to do that, just the same. Even if our ways that we might be trying to use in our lives may not actually be fair to them in their lives at all. Or to at least some degree, if not to a great degree instead."

"Fine. I'll call Mrs. Shekovinski, and ask her to have her associates come here as soon as possible. Should they come in their Scout uniforms, if they have any?"

"Obviously, Kiena. That way, we might better be able to protect my siblings, ourselves, and our allies, if I'm not too mistaken here."

"What about Mary, Naomi, and Joelle?"

"Tell them to be here as soon as possible as well."

Two minutes later, Kiena set off to attend to certain things she then had to attend to here. As for Sylvia, she soon went to where Tatiana was playing cards at present with her siblings.

When she got close enough to her siblings, she soon said, "I heard you three wanted to see me again. Well, now's your chance, kids."

Becky, Martha, and Ulysses turned at her words, and dropped their cards on a table in front of them, before hurrying to her side. Becky was the first to speak. "We've all missed you since your birthday, Sylvia. Please come home," said Rebecca.

"No, I don't think so. I'm still quite upset with them both. I don't want to be with them right now. Perhaps, in time, I will return there. But at the current time, I'll not go there again if I don't have to." Tatiana soon left, at a secret signal from Sylvia to her.

Martha asked, "They miss you too, Sylvia. They're sorry they did what they did. They've argued a lot about what they did since you left us. Can't you come home, so they'll stop?"

"I miss them too, kids, in fact, but I can't go back there right now, if at all. For knowing that they've already tried it once, who's to say that they won't try to marry me off again without my prior knowledge and/or consent?"

Ulysses asked, "Noted. But you can't hate them forever, can you, Sylvia?"

"Ulysses, Becky, and Martha, please get this firmly in your heads, if you can. I _don't_ hate them. But what they tried to do earlier is unexcusable, and currently unforgivable, it seems to me. Perhaps in time, it won't be. But for now, at least, if not forever, it is. So I can't return just yet, no matter how much we might all want that here and now, kids. I really wish things weren't actually as they now seem to be. But they are. And until that changes well enough for all concerned, then I can't go home there again, I believe."

Several minutes later, after a good deal more conversation with her siblings, Sylvia heard the Scouts start to arrive in the cavern here. Their animal allies, as of the present time, weren't very far behind them, if they weren't actually with anyone when they came there. First to arrive in the cavern in their Scouting uniforms, if at all possible, were Moon, Corona, and Eclipse. Not very far behind them followed Mercury, Venus, Mars, and Jupiter, in that order. Then Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, in that order. Who were followed, in time, by Sedna, Quaoar, Orcus, Israel, and Judah, as well. Irene, Kiena, Tatiana, and Mary all came there in their civilian states. Moonlight Serenade, Isaiah, Vladephrad, Yeshua, Luna, and Artemis rounded out the people and animals that joined Sylvia and her siblings in the cavern as the need then arose for them to do so here well enough.

Sylvia eventually got to talking with all the other people and all the animals then in the cavern with her and her siblings. Whenever the animals talked, they covered their words with certain sounds appropriate for the kinds of animals they each were, of course. Or at least as best as they then could cover them, under the current circumstances here, anyway. This was for the obvious reasons, quite naturally enough, in fact. After a long while, they came to a hopefully-suitable enough conclusion about what to do here, in regards to Sylvia's siblings. They wouldn't actually be able to erase any memories now. But they'd still put at least a temporary, if not a permanent, block on all her siblings' memories to the best of their current abilities to do that. At least as it pertained to their memories related to the cavern they were all now in, if not to anyone and/or anything else at all, for that matter. Mainly with Irene and Pluto's help, if not with anyone else's help at all, they'd do that as best as they could. If they couldn't totally block them, they'd try to alter them at least a bit, if they possibly could, for at least a little while. If not forever, by the way.

About an hour or so after the other Scouts and all their various animal allies had arrived in the cavern, the necessary things were done as well as they then could be here. Whether those things were right enough or not for all concerned parties now, those things were done, just the same. Once they were all done as well as they could be, Sylvia's siblings were all sleeping again. Kiena soon dropped Sylvia's siblings off at Wakefield Castle as needed, before returning to her own family's residence for the rest of the night. When she left the cavern, everyone else except Sylvia began doing the same. Everyone except Sylvia left the cavern by 11:30, at the very latest.

* * *

The following Monday, Lisha came upon a Syrian-born girl. Little did she yet know this girl in her life, or that they'd fight alongside each other at least every so often in the future against Skyhorse and many other Scouts. They met each other on the way back to their respective residences in the Mohammedan-dominated part of the Jerusalem local area. Both were now wearing their robes, for it was no longer time for school on the current day. They met near Zoisite's current base of operations in the area, just as Zoisite was about to go looking for Lisha. For it was almost time for another training session for her, so that she'd hopefully be able to fight as Sailor Egypt very soon.

As soon as Zoisite got within a few hundred yards or so of Lisha and the other girl's position, the Black Crystal began to beep. Quietly, at first, and then louder as Zoisite neared both girls. It soon identified the girl with Lisha at present as the once and future Sailor Syria. Zoisite quickened her step after it did so, and soon was with both girls here. An hour later, at most, after a brief trip to the Negaverse, both girls were with each other and Zoisite in Zoisite's Jerusalem base.

After they were, Lisha and Zoisite began getting to know Qadira at least a bit in their lives, if they'd not already done so by then. They all began trying to prepare for at least one future battle with Skyhorse's group of Scouts, if not more than one. And they did this until at least 7:30 pm, but not later than 8:30 pm, before they all parted from each other for the rest of the night. When Lisha's father asked where she'd been, she told him, "I was making a friend with a girl from Syria."

He smiled, and asked, "What is her name?"

"Qadira. I don't know her last name well enough yet. And, by the way, Allah has seen fit to make it possible for me to bring you several bottles of fine German beer as you often like to have. It seems some foolish Christian-appearing tourists forgot to take them with them after buying them at a liquor shop between school and here. I gathered them up, and brought them to you, just as soon as I could, in fact, Father. May you enjoy them, with Allah's blessings." She produced six bottles of that beer, and soon gave him all six of them.

"Well done, my lady who walks at night."

"Would you mind if I were possibly interested in joining Islamic Jihad or a similar enough in the future, so that I could perhaps try to liberate Palestine from the Zionist infidels?"

"In time, maybe not. But just not yet, my dear. Let's try to see if Saddam can defeat sufficiently the infidels who are now opposing him, my daughter."

"Your wish is my command, Honored Father." Lisha soon retired to her room and bed, when the need arose for her to do so, in fact. She was in her bed again by no later than 11 at night, after first working on her currently-uncompleted school work for a while, if needed, by the way. And she was asleep no more than about ten or so minutes after that time, for that matter.

* * *

In the late afternoon of February 20, 1991, which was a Wednesday, Sylvia ran into Irene, in a manner of speaking. It happened while Sylvia was in the mall she'd first encountered Rolando at in this time period. She was shopping for more art supplies when she encountered Irene there.

They soon found a place where they could talk safely enough with each other in the mall. After they did, Sylvia soon asked, "What are you doing here now, Mrs. Shekovinski?"

"Shopping, for one thing. My children and husband thought I should enjoy myself as much as possible on my birthday. So this is one of the places I've decided to go to today to do that as much as I can, Sylvia."

"May I ask how old you are now?"

"46 years old, Sylvia."

"How long have you known about your Silver Millennium past?"

"Since at least my wedding day in this time period, if not longer. Why do you ask?"

"Because I now can remember you as Queen Serenity, that's why, Irene. And Hezekiah was Prince Daniel."

"You served my daughter well in the past. And may you do so again, if the need arises."

"If it is the Lord's will that I do so, then I will. But if it isn't His will, then so be it."

"Fair enough, Sylvia." It was now about 6:35 pm.

"How many Negaverse Generals are there left to fight, exactly, as far as you know?"

"Two. Generals Zoisite and Malachite, Sylvia, are the only ones left that I can recall as certainly being present when they invaded us long ago."

"What will Zoisite's main goal probably be?"

"I don't know yet. But from what I know of her, from back in the days of the Silver Millennium, she was quite mean and would often mistreat her prisoners however she might see fit. Especially if they didn't do or say what she wanted them to. Mind you, most of what I happen to know of her right now probably is, at best, second-hand or third-hand information. As for Malachite, he may even be more of a mystery to me than Zoisite is or was to me. I believe he was that way in the past as well. At least to some degree, if not totally, that is."

The two of them talked and shopped with each other for some length of time before Sylvia said, "Please try to enjoy yourself for the rest of your birthday, Queen Serenity. I think it's about time for me to go back to work again."

"On what, Sylvia?"

"Protecting the area, of course. You don't really want your daughters fighting again too soon, do you?"

"You mean Selena, Destiny, and Bethany, don't you?"

"Of course I do. Selena, most especially, if I know you as well as I think I do now."

"I suppose so, Sylvia. What if you need help later?"

"I'll call the other Scouts I've got in my little group first. If we're in need of more assistance, then we might call for the rest of you."

"All right, Sylvia. Be careful, yet vigilant, then, on your next patrol of the area."

"As God wills it, so shall I be, if at all possible, Mrs. Shekovinski." Sylvia soon parted from Irene, found a safe enough place to power up, and became Skyhorse again. Skyhorse then began patrolling in the area as the need or desire for her to do that arose for her here.

Skyhorse patrolled the area alone until about 8:15 in the evening before encountering Sailor Mercury near DBJHS, as Sailor Mercury had been drawn for some reason in that direction for a while.

Sailor Mercury soon asked, "Sailor Skyhorse, why are you here?"

"I could ask you the same question."

"Perhaps. But I asked you first."

"I often patrol here. And this has been a place where attacks have happened before, by the way."

"So Amy Meredith heard, if I remember things I've heard well enough. Who she is, I'm not sure. But I have a feeling we'll meet, if we haven't already."

Skyhorse thought, "Mercury, you _are_ Amy, and she _is_ you. You must not have all your memories back from long ago yet. I wonder just how long it will be before you have them all back well enough."

Mercury asked, "May I patrol with you, Sailor Skyhorse, by any chance?"

"Sure Mercury, you can. While you do so, would you perhaps like to talk about your boyfriend?"

"I don't have one. I can't have a boyfriend, and be a Sailor Scout, I believe."

"Who said so?"

"I believe it was Sailor Serenity, but I'm not 100 sure about that."

"Could it have been an enemy of ours that told you that?"

"Perhaps, or perhaps not. Why do you ask?"

"Because the Sailor Serenity I knew never said such a thing when I served her people before, Sailor Mercury. And you did have at least one potential suitor for your hand in marriage, for that matter. But nobody married you, it seems."

"Why was that?"

"Because we were overcome by many enemies. I too was unmarried, when they did so long ago."

"I see. And why are we here, then, Sailor Skyhorse?"

"We are here by the grace of God, Sailor Mercury."

Mercury thought about that for a good while, as they patrolled the area together, before asking, "Do you know well enough about what happened to the sentients on my planet, then, Skyhorse?"

"Most, if not all, of them still on or sufficiently near it were killed, if I'm not too mistaken here. You were one of the only survivors from Mercury before we fell in battle on the Moon."

"And the other worlds, Skyhorse?"

"The same thing was generally true for them as well. We all made our last stand on the Moon. But it wasn't enough. They invaded us, while using the Earth as a foothold in our system, and defeated us in battle, at least as much as they then could. But God, in His grace, allowed us to survive somehow. So here we are now. We will avenge our earlier defeat, God willing, at our enemies' hands, Sailor Mercury. It may take some time, or it may not. But we will have our defeats because of them avenged, just the same."

"Are you sure about that, Skyhorse?" asked Mercury, as the current local time rapidly approached 10:10 at night. "It seems far-fetched to me at least a bit, if not a lot."

"I am. But before it happens, the Moon Princess must appear, whoever they then might be in any case at all, Sailor Mercury. Until she does, our defeats can't be totally avenged, however."

Shortly thereafter, Sailors Skyhorse and Mercury parted from each other in the same place where they'd met earlier that evening. It was almost 10:25 pm local time when they did so, in fact. After Sailor Mercury parted from her, Sailor Skyhorse eventually went back to the cavern. But not before buying some things for herself that she then needed or wanted and/or finishing her rounds in the area, in terms of her patrolling there, of course. She finally arrived back in the cavern by 11:40 pm. And the cavern was completely empty when she did so. She stayed alone in the cavern for the rest of the night, only rising from her bed there when necessary, after retiring to it by 1:30 in the morning. Her dreams were rather peaceful in their respective natures as she slept, for that matter.

* * *

So concludes the first chapter of Book II of this story series. If you like what you see of it well enough, for at least the time being, then you know what to do. That is all. TUS out. 


	2. Chapter 2

All characters that are definitely known to actually be part of the "Sailor Moon" Universe are actually the property of their owner or owners, where applicable. As are the settings of this particular story and any related stories I may write at any time. All other characters and/or settings that are non-native to the "Sailor Moon" Universe are actually of my own creation, unless otherwise stated. If they aren't actually of my own creation, they're actually the property and/or creation of their owner or owners, where applicable.

All poems and/or songs in, at least, this story or series of stories are copyright to and/or of their respective writers, performers, or authors, and/or their owners, wherever applicable, if I'm actually not their writer and/or owner as well. I claim nothing knowingly for my own, people, that isn't actually mine. Just like I'm doing for any other elements and characters that I mentioned in the previous paragraph here, I'm doing that for all of the said poems and/or stories, in fact, people. So the exact same disclaimer applies to them as it does for anything else related to this story and/or its series, at least, if not any other story or stories of mine. That's whenever possible, of course.

And please be aware that this story, at least, if not any others as well, may periodically delve into the areas of alternate timelines, realities, and/or universes, as well as have at least some OOC elements for any or all of the characters in it, at least a little bit, if not a lot. And it may or may not tie in with other stories of mine that might feature its main characters, at least on the protagonists' side of things, in fact.

This particular story series of mine here will mainly be set in one of at least eight different Zones of Earth. Specifically, this story series will mainly be set in the Jerusalem Zone of Earth. Other Zones of Earth that may be mentioned in this story series, at least, if not others as well, will be the Tokyo, Honolulu, Seattle, Chicago, Rio De Janeiro, London, and Calcutta Zones. Tokyo's the Alpha Zone, unless otherwise stated. Honolulu, Beta. Seattle, Gamma. Chicago, Delta. Rio De Janeiro, Epsilon. London, Zeta. And Calcutta, Theta. Jerusalem will be in the Eta Zone, then, by logical enough extension here, of course.

I hope that you all happen to enjoy this story quite considerably, and that you'll leave plenty of good reviews for it, while it's still in progress here, by the way. Much more of it will come later, if and whenever possible, in the future, people.

Now with no further ado, if we may, then, let's all get on with the story again here, and see what happens next for the Scouts and anyone else they may or may not yet know in their lives, quite obviously enough! And away we go!

* * *

Chapter Two

The following Saturday, Lisha and Qadira met with Zoisite again. She continued to try to prepare them for future combat against any number of opponents. By this time, Lisha had nearly been able to transform into Sailor Egypt. She hadn't yet been able to do that at all, but Zoisite was hoping that Lisha would be able to do that soon. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.

Lisha still hadn't passed the 80 percent power level, at least in terms of transformation power. She would need to reach full power there, in order to transform. To hold her transformation for at least one hour, if not longer, well enough while still fighting, she'd need at least another 50 percent more than that, most likely, to be able to fight well enough as Sailor Egypt.

As for Qadira, she might not be able to fight as Sailor Syria until at least March 10, perhaps. At least that was how things seemed to be now for her to Zoisite. Qadira had chosen certain weapons for herself, and she'd often practiced with them whenever possible. Especially in Zoisite and Lisha's presence, in fact.

So had Lisha, for that matter. She'd mainly practiced with Zoisite, even before she'd first encountered Qadira. She actually wasn't that bad. But she still wasn't ready to fight any of the Scouts on Skyhorse's side of things in the local area of Jerusalem. She especially wanted to get the chance to try to knock down Skyhorse at least a peg or two, if at all possible, of course.

They, meaning Lisha and Qadira, practiced and prepared with Zoisite's help, wherever and whenever possible. That was so when they eventually had to fight the Scouts with Skyhorse, they hopefully wouldn't be defeated easily in their first engagements with them. It might be about another week before they'd be ready, or it might not. Only time would tell just how long it'd be before they were, of course. On the current day, then, they stayed with Zoisite most, if not all, of the time between about 9 am and 7 pm local time in the Jerusalem area, in fact.

Eventually, though, they both had to leave Zoisite again, and return to their respective residences in the area. They each returned to them by no later than 9:30 pm, by the way. And they were welcomed home quite warmly, as well, for that matter.

* * *

Several days later, it was February 28, 1991, a Thursday. Sylvia and others were conversing with each other at lunch. At Sylvia's table with her, or within close enough chatting range, were Liz, Leila, Sonja, Ashley, Rolando, James, Wolfgang, Lukhas, and Matthew. Unlike Kiena, Mary, and Joshua Dickens, however, who were either elsewhere in the cafeteria or in class, whatever the case might be for each of them at the present time. 

Liz was sitting to Sylvia's right, as Sylvia ate and drank directly across from her boyfriend. The seat directly opposite Liz at her table here was now empty. To Liz's right sat Leila, who was directly opposite James. To Leila's right, Sonja sat directly across from Wolfgang. Ashley sat to Sonja's right, directly opposite Lukhas at the table. Matthew sat at the end of the table between Ashley and Lukhas, opposite another empty seat at the table.

The ten were mainly discussing things such as the upcoming DBJHS Prom. For one thing, by the way. Other discussed matters included the situation that was still ongoing between Iraq and the rest of the world. Especially as it pertained to their current occupation of Kuwait. Iraq hadn't yet been evicted from Kuwait. But several thousand military personnel, at least from many nations, were now massing at the Saudi Arabian border with Iraq and Kuwait, preparing to move at a moment's notice. For one month, more or less, since about February 1, there had been a bombing campaign against Iraq's forces. Both inside Iraq's airspace and inside Kuwait's, at least, for that matter. Also, several Iraqi missile strikes had hit places such as Haifa and Tel Aviv, for example. Several people had obviously been killed by those attacks on Israelite cities, when they happened. But not very many, when compared to the number of Iraqis killed in the current Coalition bombing campaign against Iraq.

The Scouts had been too far away to help the attacked Israelite civilians where the Iraqi Scuds had landed, unfortunately. For they still hadn't learned that they could sometimes teleport from one place to another if they were strong enough and in their respective Scout states. In time, they'd learn that. But at the current time, they still hadn't.

Sylvia asked, "Mr. Volois, when do you think we'll be invading occupied Kuwait and/or Iraq?"

"We in what sense, Miss Wakefield?"

"We in the sense of the Coalition trying to liberate Kuwait, at least?"

"Perhaps it could happen at any particular time, depending on how soon the American President wants us to begin doing that. Hopefully we'll even be able to go all the way to Baghdad, and capture Saddam Hussein himself," said Rolando.

Sylvia said, "Don't count on us being able to capture him for at least another decade or so, Mr. Volois. I have a feeling that we won't capture him for at least that long, which I don't fully understand myself, by the way."

Liz asked, in between two bites of fruit salad, "What makes you say that? By that, I mean, what makes you say that we might not capture him for a long time?"

"I don't know for sure, Liz. I wish I did, but I don't. Perhaps it's at least partly, if not entirely, due to the way the world usually works. At least geopolitically, if not in any other senses as well. The world generally hates war, it seems. Unless it's against Israel and anyone who supports him, of course."

"I don't get why people hate your land so much, Sylvia," said Liz.

"Let me answer this, if I may," interjected Rolando, when he saw Sylvia was about to answer. Sylvia let him do so, with a nod. Rolando then said, "Miss McCall, my fellow Briton, they hate Israel so much because the Messiah came through the Children of Israel, for one. Another is that they don't recognize God's right to assign land on Earth to a certain people, if He so chooses. In this case, the certain people in question are the descendants of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob, also known as Israel. As such, they refuse, generally, Israel's right to exist. So Israel has to deal with those who seek to destroy him. Israel didn't totally drive out the Canaanite peoples from, or exterminate the Canaanite peoples from, the Promised Land. Because he did not do so, through his descendants, there are still surviving people who periodically cause problems for the Israelites now. Satan really loves warring against the Chosen People of God, whether they are Jewish, Christian, or of some other religious belief. Especially those people of the Jewish faith, for they are, more than any other people on the face of the Earth, the Apple of God's Eye. He sent the Messiah to Earth through them. If that isn't a sure sign that he _really_ loves them, I don't know what is, and I never will. At least not in this lifetime, if ever, anyway."

Matthew said, "Mr. Volois, didn't the Throne get cut off at the time of the Babylonian Captivity?"

"Yes, but there will still be the Messiah ruling on the Throne of His ancestor David in the future. Jesus is a descendant of Solomon, legally, through his human foster father Joseph. Jeconiah has no biological descendants on the Throne, and won't have any, in the future, Matthew. Your namesake, at least in terms of your first name, wrote a Gospel tracing Jesus's legal ancestry from Abraham to Himself, through Joseph, if I'm not mistaken. As for Mary, her ancestry, it seems, is traced back through another son of David named Nathan, in Luke. It is still quite often debated how Jesus is able to claim future Kingship, I'm sure. Just because there isn't actually an Israelite Kingdom now, that doesn't mean that there won't be. Consider the case of Spain, for example. For a while, there was no Spanish Kingdom. But when Franco died in 1975, the Spanish became a Kingdom again."

"What about your own United Kingdom, Mr. Volois?" asked Lukhas.

"Yes, for a time, there was no English Kingdom. But the Kingdom was restored. The English joined us in a Union, in terms of our legislatures, in 1707. I am hoping that eventually, Scotland will become an independent Kingdom again."

"I don't think that's likely to happen, if ever, for at least a while, Mr. Volois," said Liz.

"Maybe not. But maybe we might at least get to have our own Parliament again, just the same. It's not just our Scotland that I want to see as an independent Kingdom again, it's also the Welsh that I want to see have one later as well."

"Why not give Northern Ireland away as well?" asked Liz.

"If they want to join with the rest of Ireland, then why not let them?"

"Mr. Volois, are you suggesting that we disassociate our nations with each other, by any chance?"

"No, not totally, of course, Miss McCall. I'm just suggesting that we shouldn't necessarily have to have just one ruling family in the British Isles. I, for one, don't want to see Prince Charles, for instance, succeed Queen Elizabeth II on the British Throne, if she dies before Christ returns."

Liz asked, "What about William, then?"

"It's too early to say, at least right now, anyway, Miss McCall."

Leila asked, "Then who do you think should rule after Queen Elizabeth II, Mr. Volois, by any chance, if I may ask?"

"Prince Edward, at least as a Regent for William, if not as King."

"You'd bypass Charles and Andrew, at least?" asked Ashley, as it got to be about three or so minutes before their lunch period was about to end.

"Sure I would. I don't trust Prince Charles to stay away from Camilla and not break Diana's heart, nor do I think Andrew has what it might take to rule after Queen Elizabeth II, Miss Cornale. Anne is after her brothers, in the line of succession, because she is female. Personally, I think succession should go by order of birth, whenever possible, with female precedence where appropriate. The line of succession shouldn't necessarily tend to favor one gender over the other, I think. Such as Japan, for instance, seems to do at the present time."

"Oh?" asked Sonja.

"The Japanese evidently would prefer a male ruling from the Chrysanthemum Throne forever, from what I know of them right now. But in time, they may seriously have to consider letting a female rule for at least a while as an Empress. They haven't had a male born for some time in the Imperial family, if I'm not too mistaken here, Miss Darram."

James said, "I too think that royal/imperial families' lines of succession shouldn't necessarily be confined, normally to one gender or the other."

"Mr. Volois, what about the Austro-Hungarian or the Bavarian Thrones and/or Royal families, then?" asked Wolfgang, as they all began disposing of all the necessary things, if they'd not all begun doing so by then.

"I wouldn't mind seeing them restored sometime in the future, if that's what the affected people might actually want to see happen in it at all, Mr. Schubert."

"And if they don't?" asked Lukhas.

"Then so be it, Mr. Edison. I personally wouldn't mind it either if they choose to stay as they now are."

The ten of them soon parted again as they needed to here. Even Sylvia, of course. And they went to their various classes as necessary. Often not seeing each other much, if at all, during the rest of the school day, most likely.

After the end of the school day came and went, Rolando and Sylvia met briefly with each other. They mainly discussed what their plans were for the weekend, if not anything else as well. "Sylvia, how would you like to go to the Mediterranean sometime this weekend?"

"I don't think so, Mr. Volois. I have a strange feeling that something will happen soon that will require Skyhorse's attention. I don't know why I do, but I still know that I do, just the same. Maybe later, I might be more interested in such an idea. But right now, at least, I can't honestly say that I am. Sorry."

"No problem. I was just wondering, that's all, Miss Wakefield."

"That doesn't mean, however, that I don't want to go somewhere later with you, just so you know, Mr. Volois."

"I'll see you later, then, maybe?"

"I'll try to make that possible, if I can. Can you be at the library by 7, perhaps? I'd like to see you after my patrol today, in fact, if at all possible."

"I think I can do that. When were you going to make your rounds in the area?"  
"Probably between 4 and 6, I think. So I'd best leave you now, and get ready to do that well enough, I suppose."

The two of them soon parted. He went to his family's residence for a while, and she eventually went out on patrol after a brief stop at the cavern.

As Sylvia patrolled as Sailor Skyhorse, she encountered Sailor Moon and Luna near a city park. She said, "Hello, you two. It's good to see you again."

Sailor Moon said, "Skyhorse, what a surprise to see you again so soon. I don't see you often, it seems, around here."

"The Jerusalem area is rather large, Sailor Moon, if I'm not too mistaken here. I don't always get to patrol near or in this park, I believe. Others usually patrol near her more than I can, it seems."

Luna said, "People often talk about you, Sailor Skyhorse. I wonder if that bothers you at all."

"Not really, as long as my civilian identity is kept sufficiently secret from those who don't absolutely need to know it at all. Such as my family and/or friends, for example, Luna."

"I suppose you're right, Skyhorse. But you will want to be more careful in the future, it seems. Evidently not only Negaversers want to learn the civilian identities of the Scouts. But any number of Arab terrorists and many civilians do too. So you and your Scouts might really want to be careful in the future."

"Sailor Moon, how well do you know Sailors Mercury, Mars, Jupiter, Venus, Corona, Eclipse, Pluto, Uranus, Neptune, Saturn, Sedna, Quaoar, and Orcus, at least?" asked Skyhorse.

"Not well at all, it seems, Sailor Skyhorse. Why do you ask?"

"Just wondering, that's all," answered Skyhorse.

"I see. Are you thinking I might get to know them well enough in the future, by any chance?" asked Sailor Moon.

"Perhaps. But first, I think Tuxedo Mask might have to appear, in order for you to do that, I think, Sailor Moon."

"I don't know a 'Tuxedo Mask,' Skyhorse."

"You will, in time, I'm sure. And you might be surprised about who he is, for that matter."

After a good deal of additional conversation being among Luna and the two Scouts, Skyhorse eventually parted from them, and went back to the cavern. She stayed there for a while, before setting off for the library again, by the way, as Sylvia.

Rolando met Sylvia near the front entrance of the library, when she got there, and they soon headed to another part of it. For a while, they looked for any books there they might then want or need to check out of it. Soon after that, they checked those books out, and left the library behind. After doing that, they soon went to the cavern. While there, they dropped off Sylvia's van. With that done, they went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant. They arrived there by 9, and stayed there for about half an hour. After eating out, they went to the mall, and browsed in several stores there until about 11:30 pm or so.

"I think we should probably call it a night soon, Rolando," said Sylvia, as they were leaving the mall just after 11:30 pm.

"I suppose so, Sylvia. I'd really like to be with you when the morning comes, though."

"Well, that's not possible just yet."

"I know. But I still would like to wake up next to you eventually."

"God willing, of course, I'm sure you eventually will, my Beloved. But that won't be possible for some time unless you and I are married first."

"I know that. I wish we were already married, though."

"I understand, Rolando. But we aren't, if we'll ever be, just yet. So there's nothing that we can do to change that. At least not yet, anyway." They soon parted as needed in the cavern. It was almost midnight when they did so, in fact. Rolando went home, and Sylvia stayed in the cavern, of course, when they both did so here with a few kisses and hugs as they then saw fit.

Sylvia stayed awake for a while longer, only retiring to her bed in the cavern after 2:15 or so in the morning. She slept reasonably well, not yet knowing that much more trouble was certainly due to come her and her friends' ways in the very near future. And just what kind of trouble it then might be, for that matter.

* * *

The following afternoon, shortly after school, Sylvia then went about her business in the area as she saw fit. She soon visited Sweet Musicalisti to be with Moonlight Serenade for at least a little bit, if not a lot, just before beginning her usual rounds in the area. Sylvia then arrived there by 5:15 pm, after briefly stopping by the cavern to change her clothes, et cetera. After she arrived at Sweet Musicalisti to visit with Serenade, she eventually prepared him to be ridden as needed by her that afternoon and evening, once he asked her to do that here well enough. 

The two of them eventually left Sweet Musicalisti behind so that they could begin their rounds in the local area. They soon arrived near the Athletic Club together, just as soon as they could do that here well enough. As they began nearing the aforementioned Athletic Club, Skyhorse began getting a really bad feeling for herself. She'd powered up to her Skyhorse state of being just after they'd both left Sweet Musicalisti's grounds behind well enough, in fact.

When she was then able to comprehend said feeling well enough, at least at the current time here, she suddenly said, "Serenade, I need and want you to go try to find Renaissance, Trinity, Mir, Israel, and Judah. As well as their various animal allies, please, if you can do that here. I'm going to look around this general area more on foot, for your information. Tell them to hurry up, and get to wherever I might be, by the time they're able to respond well enough here. I don't think we'll need the assistance of the other Scouts right now, though."

"Understood," said Serenade, as Skyhorse suddenly slipped off his back to the ground below, just as quickly and as safely as she then could do that here and now. After she'd taken all the necessary things off his back, she sent him away from her, and prepared herself for whatever she might then have to face very shortly indeed. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons.

Skyhorse quite carefully scoped out the area as best as she then could all by herself at the current time. She didn't have to wait too much longer before sounds from a sudden explosion several blocks away reached her ears. Skyhorse hurried to the location just as quickly and as safely as she could, of course. The explosion had been caused by a suicide bomber detonating a homemade explosive device on a bus, in fact.

Skyhorse began trying to help the surviving victims of the bus attack, but before she could help most of them, a girl pulled her away from them, and forced her to try to defend herself. The girl was Sailor Egypt, by the way.

When Skyhorse tried to get back to where the survivors of the attack were, Egypt wouldn't let her. Skyhorse said, "Let me go back there and help those people."

"No, Skyhorse, I forbid it. By Satan, Osiris, and others, I shall not let you back there willingly."

"Who are you, and why do you not want me to help them?"

"I am Sailor Egypt, and I now serve the Negaverse. I am the Sailor of Egypt's Revenge! Satan and Osiris have great need of their bodies, among others, for that matter. Defend yourself, you vile infidel! Isis, my sword, scabbard, and shield, please!" A black cat with a triple pyramid-like mark appeared from a deserted alley, and soon called forth a sword, scabbard, and shield, by jumping, twisting, and somersaulting three times in rather quick succession. Then the cat returned to its previously-unknown nearby hiding place. Wherever it then was, in fact, before Skyhorse could keep her from doing that well enough.

Sailor Egypt was currently wearing a sailor-style uniform similar in many respects, though not in all respects, to the one that Skyhorse was now wearing here. Her tiara was gold with the appropriate birthstone at its base. Her choker was black with red and gold trim. Egypt's collar was black with white piping. On Egypt's shoulders, there were shoulder pins to represent Egypt as appropriate. Egypt's locket was in the approximate shape of a cat. Egypt had a mostly red neckerchief with black and gold trim. Her uniform's blouse was mostly black with a sash. Her skirt was mostly black, and it fell to mid-thigh, perhaps. On her feet, there were also black sandals, where appropriate, for that matter.

"I am not an infidel, Sailor Egypt," said Skyhorse, as she began fighting against Egypt with her sword, and doing it by sheer necessity here. She fought Egypt for quite a while, of course. And while she was still doing so, Zoisite briefly appeared nearby, with several good-sized cubes in both of her hands.

Zoisite tossed those cubes in the air, and then threw several knives at them from places inside her own Negaverse General's uniform, as Skyhorse's attention was still largely taken up by Egypt here. As it still was, Zoisite tossed the knives in the direction of those cubes. The knives speared the cubes one at a time, and one knife per cube, for that matter. After they did so, the cubes split open to reveal the presence of several monsters of various sizes. Some cubes more than others, but each with at least one or two, just the same. The monsters became visible in very short order, and began to try to keep various people from helping the surviving victims of the most recent suicide bombing here, of course. After they did so, Zoisite vanished almost as quickly as she'd suddenly appeared on the scene. She called back her knives from the cubes they'd just speared, and returned them to wherever she'd gotten them on her person. Just before she left the scene again, she said, "Skyhorse, I hope you have a lot of fun trying to win here. You're really going to have your hands full here, it seems. Goodbye, and I hope this means permanently, for that matter."

Skyhorse shouted, as she parried a few thrusts from Egypt, "Don't count on it being forever, Zoisite. We will win here, as much as we can, and you're going to get your just punishments, in due time, you foul witch! God willing, of course, that is!"

After Skyhorse said that, Zoisite scowled at her while still vacating the scene as needed or desired here, in fact. And then Egypt said, "Give up now, Skyhorse. Your time to run things here is now over. The Negaverse will prevail, in time. Give up now, and you might live!"

"It's much better to die in Christ than to live as the servant of Satan, Allah, and all false deities or sentient beings, Sailor Egypt! I shall never serve the Negaverse, and you will either be defeated or converted, by God's will, in fact."

Just then, several Scouts appeared on the scene, and began to engage the monsters still trying to wreak havoc in the local area. Those Scouts were Renaissance, Trinity, Mir, Israel, and Judah. Also with them were Serenade, Isaiah, Vladephrad, and Yeshua, at least, if not anyone else as well, for that matter. The other Scouts who'd just arrived on the scene wasted no time at all in making any speeches before fighting here. And they then engaged them in combat just as soon as the possibly could, by the way. Still other Scouts were on the way, but they hadn't yet arrived on the current scene here.

The arrival of the other Scouts and several animal allies got Egypt rather upset here. And it soon began to show, after she began letting her guard down at least a little bit while trying to fend off several slashes and thrusts from Skyhorse. Skyhorse soon had gained a considerable advantage over Egypt in the fight, after that happened. But not without taking some hits to herself as well, quite obviously enough. Eventually, Skyhorse was about to force Egypt to drop out of her current Negaverse state. But she was prevented from doing that when Egypt threw sand and assorted other things toward her eyes. While Skyhorse protected her eyes as best as she could here, for the obvious reasons, Egypt suddenly slipped away, before Skyhorse could force her to drop back to her own civilian state of being. Just as Egypt slipped away from Skyhorse here well enough, she then shouted, "I'll be back, Sailor Skyhorse! You can be sure of that, in fact! And you'll pay for what you've just done here, for that matter!"

After Egypt was quite sufficiently out of her current reach here, Skyhorse went to where the other Scouts and their animal allies were still fighting several monsters. She helped the others as best as she could before the Pilgrim showed on the scene. He aided them for a while, before the still-remaining monsters were all disposed of as needed. Eventually, all the monsters were defeated and dusted completely. And then the Scouts did what they could for the remaining survivors of the bombing and the monster attacks here, of course. But they were still too late to save the lives of about 110 people, most of them civilians, just the same.

About sixty or so of them were civilians who'd been somewhere on the bus. Other civilians had been killed on the streets by shrapnel coming from the bomb's quite-sudden explosion. While others had been killed by the various monsters. Several police officers, soldiers, firefighters, and emergency personnel had also been killed by the Negaverse-affiliated monsters after their own appearances on the scene. Even while the Sailor Scouts and their various animal allies had all been responding to the multiple-monster attack or while fighting against them all there.

It was quite a while before the scene could be handled well enough by all the necessary sentient beings, whether they were human or not, of course. But by 10, much of it had been taken care of in the necessary manners, just the same. Several nearby buildings had taken some damage as well due to the bombing and the monsters' attacks that evening and night, for the obvious reasons. At least one might have to be demolished and/or rebuilt, because of them, as well.

It took until about midnight or so for the scene of the terrorist/monster attacks to be secured and handled well enough, at least as of the current time. But it was eventually done well enough, no matter what had to be done then for that to happen here, in fact. Several soldiers remained at and around the scene, of course, while everyone else vacated it just as soon as they could do that well enough, by the way.

It was a very dirty and very angry Skyhorse, for instance, who eventually left the scene behind. And she only left it behind when she realized well enough that there was nothing more than she, the rest of the Scouts, or their animal allies, could do there at the current time. She eventually returned to the cavern, after first dropping Serenade off at Sweet Musicalisti and taking care of him there as needed, of course.

She powered down as soon as she reached the cavern well enough. And no more than about ten minutes after that, she was then doing what she could to begin cleaning herself up as best as she currently could after her most recent battle as Skyhorse in the local area. It took her until about 2:15 in the morning for her to do that well enough to suit her as much as it was currently possible for her in her life. After she got done with her bath, and bedtime preparations, she got herself a very late supper, for the obvious reasons. She stayed up consuming it until about 2:45 in the morning, before finally retiring to her bed for the rest of the overnight period there, and falling promptly to sleep in it, not more than twenty seconds after her head hit her pillow well enough.

Sylvia wouldn't likely rise from her bed again for at least the next eight or so hours, for that matter. And as she slept, she began having dreams of several future battles she and many others would still actually have to fight in their respective lives. Battles for things such as Rainbow Crystals, for example. But she'd not know that for at least a little while yet, just the same. And neither would her current and/or future allies, whether those allies of hers were actually human or not, by the way.

Not realizing that here, then, well enough, she rather quietly slept in her bed. Sylvia wasn't disturbed by anyone or anything at all as she then slept in it, no matter who or what it was. At least in the sense of being physically woken up by them, if not in any other senses as well, in fact. And so she remained until at least 11 in the morning, if not even later than that, for that matter.

* * *

So concludes the second chapter of Book II of this story series. If you like what you see of it well enough, for at least the time being, then you know what to do. That is all. TUS out. 


	3. Chapter 3

All characters that are definitely known to actually be part of the "Sailor Moon" Universe are actually the property of their owner or owners, where applicable. As are the settings of this particular story and any related stories I may write at any time. All other characters and/or settings that are non-native to the "Sailor Moon" Universe are actually of my own creation, unless otherwise stated. If they aren't actually of my own creation, they're actually the property and/or creation of their owner or owners, where applicable.

All poems and/or songs in, at least, this story or series of stories are copyright to and/or of their respective writers, performers, or authors, and/or their owners, wherever applicable, if I'm actually not their writer and/or owner as well. I claim nothing knowingly for my own, people, that isn't actually mine. Just like I'm doing for any other elements and characters that I mentioned in the previous paragraph here, I'm doing that for all of the said poems and/or stories, in fact, people. So the exact same disclaimer applies to them as it does for anything else related to this story and/or its series, at least, if not any other story or stories of mine. That's whenever possible, of course.

And please be aware that this story, at least, if not any others as well, may periodically delve into the areas of alternate timelines, realities, and/or universes, as well as have at least some OOC elements for any or all of the characters in it, at least a little bit, if not a lot. And it may or may not tie in with other stories of mine that might feature its main characters, at least on the protagonists' side of things, in fact.

This particular story series of mine here will mainly be set in one of at least eight different Zones of Earth. Specifically, this story series will mainly be set in the Jerusalem Zone of Earth. Other Zones of Earth that may be mentioned in this story series, at least, if not others as well, will be the Tokyo, Honolulu, Seattle, Chicago, Rio De Janeiro, London, and Calcutta Zones. Tokyo's the Alpha Zone, unless otherwise stated. Honolulu, Beta. Seattle, Gamma. Chicago, Delta. Rio De Janeiro, Epsilon. London, Zeta. And Calcutta, Theta. Jerusalem will be in the Eta Zone, then, by logical enough extension here, of course.

I hope that you all happen to enjoy this story quite considerably, and that you'll leave plenty of good reviews for it, while it's still in progress here, by the way. Much more of it will come later, if and whenever possible, in the future, people.

Now with no further ado, if we may, then, let's all get on with the story again here, and see what happens next for the Scouts and anyone else they may or may not yet know in their lives, quite obviously enough! And away we go!

* * *

Chapter Three

The following Monday afternoon, Queen Beryl summoned Zoisite to her presence again. When Zoisite appeared in front of her, Beryl said, "There are new orders from Queen Metallia, Zoisite. She has decided that we must attempt to awaken our strongest warriors from the past so that we can gain control of their Rainbow Crystals and the powers they contain. Also we must attempt to steal Sailor Crystals from any Scouts who aren't on our side at all in this part of Earth. No matter who they might be. If we can gain control over enough Crystals, we should be able to force the Imperium Silver Crystal to appear. And then we might hopefully be able to use it to gain control over this world, as well."

"How might we be able to find the Crystals' holders, then, Queen Beryl?" asked Zoisite.

Queen Beryl produced a black multi-faceted crystal in the approximate shape of a snake coiled around a miniature scimitar's blade. She sent it toward Zoisite, and said, "You and our warriors are to use this Vacuum Crystal to extract Rainbow and Sailor Crystals to the best of your respective abilities. I will leave it to you, Malachite, and your warriors to acquire them as you so choose and are able to do just that. I expect total success from you all by the time you find the last of the necessary Crystals, of course. Do not fail me."

"Of course, Queen Beryl."

"One other thing, before you start searching for the necessary Crystals, Zoisite."

"Yes, Queen Beryl?"

"Is Dark Sailor Syria ready yet for combat against the Scouts who are opposing us now?"

"Not yet. It will be at least a little while longer, for she isn't yet able to handle things well enough to fight against them. Dark Sailor Egypt, though, made it quite difficult for Sailor Skyhorse to help innocent people out as best as she possibly could then do that at all. Many were killed as a result, at least indirectly, if not also directly, in fact."

"I see. Continue finding and/or preparing our warriors for future battles against the Scouts, then, as you also begin your searching for all the necessary Crystals. Once we have enough, if not all, of those Crystals under our control, we should be able to fully unleash the Negaforce. In the meantime, report periodically to me about the progress of our various operations in this part of Earth. Now please leave me alone here, and get back to work, Zoisite."

"As you wish, Queen Beryl." Zoisite then left Beryl completely alone again, as ordered. And she did it immediately, once Beryl dismissed her.

* * *

After school, Sylvia decided to go to the Athletic Club for a while. She eventually arrived there by 4:30 or so in the afternoon, after a short stop off at the cavern so that she could change her clothes, and pick up certain others, in fact. When she eventually arrived at the Athletic Club, Kiena, Mary, and two other girls were near each other in or around one of the pools there. Those two other girls were Alexis Herschel and Michelle Gallenski. Alexis was sitting on the nearby bleachers, and Michelle, Kiena, and Mary were in the pool together, swimming the backstroke against each other, when Sylvia finally showed near the pool well enough.

Moments later, Michelle, Kiena, and Mary exited the pool, and sat down near Alexis and Sylvia there. Sylvia soon asked Alexis and Michelle, "What are you two doing here?"

"Michelle Gallenski, my best friend, wanted to swim for a while. And she wanted me, Alexis Herschel, to watch her do that," said Alexis. "So I'm here. I'm actually not much for swimming. Driving and running are more my cup of tea, so to speak, in fact. You're Sylvia Wakefield, right?"

Sylvia said, "Yes, I am. I attend David Ben Jesse High School. I don't believe that you two do, if I remember things well enough, though."

"No, we don't. We both attend another school. We attend Golda Meir High School. It's in another part of town," said Michelle, a girl with shoulder-length aqua green hair who was just about to turn 15 years old in about two days, more or less. She was a rather good swimmer, violinist, painter, and a collector of cosmetics in her life. At the current time, she was wearing a one-piece swimsuit that mostly matched her natural hair color, as well. There were some light blue stripes running across the suit from about where her left shoulder was to about where her right hip was, for that matter. It had a half-back cut to it, and complete coverage in the front where needed. Medium blue bows secured the sides of her suit together, by the way.

"I don't think I know of it well enough yet, if I ever will, Miss Gallenski." Sylvia frowned briefly as she tried to recall if she'd ever learned much about that Jerusalem-area school at all, for that matter.

As for Alexis, she was currently wearing a navy blue blouse with gold trim over a pair of navy blue sweatpants and blue tennis shoes. A pair of sunglasses were perched on the top of her head at present. Her hair was cut in a rather boyish style, and it was mostly medium blonde shading to dark blonde. The back of her blouse had her racing team's name and logo on it. She was now an up-and-coming driver for a recently-created racing stable that was looking to make it big overseas eventually, if at all possible.

Alexis asked, "What grade are you in, Miss Wakefield?"

Joseph Herschel, Alexis's father, was one of the key sponsors of that particular racing team. And he was really hoping that she might actually prove to be a very good, if not great, racer someday yet in the future. But he didn't yet know that Alexis had just become a Sailor Scout in her life. And he hopefully never would know that at all. Alexis hadn't told anyone in her family that she'd become one, if she ever would. She now had three sisters and two brothers, but none of them were yet Sailor Scouts or Knights, if they ever would be.

"I'm a junior, Miss Herschel."

Alexis was the second daughter and child of her parents Joseph and Miranda Herschel. Her five siblings were Ariel, Matthew, Gwendolyn (who was often called Winnie), Tanya, and Isaac. Ariel was her only older sibling. Matthew was about two years younger than her. Winnie was nearly three years and five months younger than her. Tanya had been born as a twin in 1983 along with Isaac. There were no other siblings either on the way or expected anytime in the near future, for that matter, for her family and herself.

"I see. And do you have a boyfriend, if I may ask?" asked Alexis.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. His name is Rolando. Rolando Volois, in fact."

Michelle said, "I think I've seen some stories by him in a just-started magazine or something around here. He seems to be writing some mostly science-fiction-type stories of late. That's if I remember things well enough here, of course."

"If that's so, I don't think I've seen any of them at all yet, if they're not actually school-related at all," said Sylvia. "I know that he really would like to be a professionally-published author and poet quite often in the future, if at all possible. But I wasn't actually aware that he might possibly now be submitting some, if not all, of his non-school-related work to anyone at all."

"Why not ask him if he is the next time you get a chance to spend enough time alone with him again?" suggested Alexis, with a rather sly grin on her face as she did that, and seeming to be about to laugh as well.

"You know, Miss Herschel, I might just do that. What's so funny?" asked Sylvia, as she set down a bottle of water near her right knee, all while still sitting near Alexis here.

"I just thought that maybe I might just do some investigation, and see if he's as good a writer as Michelle here seems to think he might eventually be. She seems rather interested in him, and might even want to meet him somewhere, if at all possible."

Sylvia suddenly stood up in the bleachers, and peeled off the navy blue sweatshirt, the reddish-brown sweatpants, and the navy blue flip-flops she was then wearing. That done, she set each of them next to her water bottle, reached into a small handbag she'd brought with her then, and took out a pair of swimming goggles that also would keep water from getting into her nose as she swam. A mostly blue and white swimming cap soon followed those goggles out of the handbag in question. The goggles and the swimming cap each took only a few seconds to don, at most, and then she left her things on the bleachers near where Alexis was sitting here.

"Do you want one of us to swim with you now, Sylvia?" asked Mary.

"Perhaps Kiena, if she doesn't mind too much, I suppose."

Kiena then nodded, after briefly looking at Mary, Alexis, and Michelle first. "Sure, I suppose that I can do that, Sylvia." She then set down the book that she'd just been reading here, and left the bleachers in very short order, just behind Sylvia. Both girls were soon in the pool together. And swimming alongside each other, for that matter.

The two girls swam in the pool together until about 6:15 in the evening. They only stopped doing so after Kiena saw that it was about 6:30 that evening, having remembered only mere moments before that she'd earlier promised her sister Leah to attend some event that Leah was participating in that very evening and/or night. So Kiena soon left the Athletic Club behind again, all while still hoping that she could get to the place where that event was taking place in the local area before 7 pm, in fact.

Mary went with her, a few moments later, after having just remembered something she herself then had to do in her own life. That soon left Michelle and Alexis alone with Sylvia at the Athletic Club, for that matter. After Mary and Kiena left the Athletic Club together, Michelle asked, "How long have you two been boyfriend and girlfriend, if I may ask you this, Miss Wakefield?"

"About a month or so, more or less, Miss Gallenski. How long have you known Alexis?"

"A year or two, at least, if I remember things well enough here, Miss Wakefield." Sylvia exited the pool, and began heading back toward her things in the bleachers.

"I see. And do you two each have boyfriends yourselves yet, Miss Gallenski?"

"No, we each don't. We're still flying solo, as Alexis here might possibly put it."

Sylvia nodded, as she pulled a towel out of her handbag to dry off with, "I understand. You're still young, and you don't necessarily want to have any yet in your respective lives, if I get your current drift well enough here, Miss Gallenski."

"Something like that, I suppose. Not that we might always be that way, of course, in our respective lives. I mean, we've probably got more important things to deal with in our lives than to have boyfriends right now in them. Right, Miss Wakefield?" asked Michelle, as Sylvia began drying herself off a bit here.

"Yes, such as dealing with your families, if you have any, I'm sure, Miss Gallenski."

"True enough. I have a rather big family, myself, for that matter, Miss Wakefield."

"Oh, is that so?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. I actually have a father, a mother, five brothers, and three sisters. Only one of my sisters is older than I am, and her name is Poruzuka. I am the second daughter and child of my parents Conan and Veronica Gallenski. Four of my brothers are quadruplets, and their names are Murray, Otis, Raymond, and Israel, in the exact order of their respective births. The other is not, and his name is Ernest. And my other two sisters are both singles, as well. My other two sisters' names are Dorothy and Flora."

"I happen to currently have two sisters and a brother. And all of them are younger than me in their respective lives. Their names are Ulysses, Rebecca, and Martha, not necessarily being born in that particular order here. As for my parents, they're Nigel and Esther Wakefield." Sylvia began returning certain things to her handbag, and started to head off toward the nearest appropriate changing and shower rooms in the Athletic Club. Just before she could leave the pool area completely behind, though, she heard her locket begin to beep a little bit. She then tried to find a safe enough place to hide herself at least long enough to answer the page that she was then getting. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons here.

Sylvia eventually ducked into a nearby storage room, while still wearing her flip-flops, and answered the page as soon as she was as sure as she could be here that nobody would be able to hear, see, and/or detect her as she did so. She soon heard Moonlight Serenade's voice, "Sylvia, some currently-unidentifiable trouble's now arising somewhat near the Knesset. It might be Negaverse-related, but we can't quite be sure about that right now. We might need your help in the area, of course."

"Understood. I'll be there as soon as I can, of course." Two minutes or so later, at most, she was out of that storage room and in the shower room she then needed to be in. No more than about five minutes after that, she was changing her clothes back into the same ones she'd come to the Athletic Club in, in fact. After that was done well enough, she quickly left the Athletic Club again, as needed or desired, quite obviously enough. She became Skyhorse again just as soon as she was far enough away from the Athletic Club for her to do that well enough and safely enough here, by the way.

Fifteen minutes or so later, at least, but no more than thirty later, in any case at all, Skyhorse arrived near the Knesset, and she saw several dozen monsters of various sizes and appearances fighting against thousands of soldiers and police officers, as well as a few Scouts and their animal allies. She left her van just as soon as she could in a safe enough place, and then joined the fight, with no further delay, even when it came to making the usual speech. Skyhorse refrained from making another such speech, and went right to work in the fight, for all the obvious reasons, of course..

Among the Scouts then there were Moon, Corona, and Eclipse, for example. But there were still at least two or three who hadn't yet been able to show on the scene as well. Those Scouts included, in fact, Sailors Renaissance, Trinity, Uranus, and Neptune. Several soldiers and police officers had already fallen in the battle, but not all of them. At least not yet, anyway.

Skyhorse soon found Serenade, Mir, and Vladephrad fighting monsters on the northern side of the battle's current location. As she did this, several Israelite well-armed helicopters came on the scene, and joined the fight as well. With only moderate success at the current time, at best. For the monsters were still quite numerous and quite strong here, in fact. Zoisite had actually unleashed them about ten or twenty minutes before Moonlight Serenade had finally been able to find and page Sylvia while she'd still been at the Athletic Club she'd just been at that evening.

As the battle continued to rage in the general area of the Knesset, the monsters continued to pose great difficulty for the Scouts and others to deal with here. And they remained that way for at least another hour or so after Skyhorse's arrival on the scene, for that matter. Eventually, they forced their opponents to permit them at least partial access to the Knesset's main building, and several monsters slipped inside, along with Zoisite and the now-visible Sailor Egypt. After which, the Scouts and their current allies were able to close off access to that building again well enough. At least to their current enemies, anyway.

After that happened well enough here, Skyhorse was able to go in search of those seeking to wreak havoc inside that building. And she didn't go alone into it, in fact. She actually went into it with the Pilgrim and Sailors Uranus and Neptune, who'd finally been able to make it to the battle's current location well enough here. As they hunted the invaders, they took out whatever opposition they encountered, even if it was from the building's own defensive systems, of course.

Eventually, they were able to find and trap Sailor Egypt and Zoisite in the main chamber of the Knesset, as well as three monsters, who were now trying to extract and steal a Rainbow Crystal from a young secretary for an unknown Knesset member. Uranus and Neptune soon unleashed a combined attack which destroyed all three of the monsters holding this secretary down on the floor. Even while the Pilgrim and Skyhorse engaged Egypt and Zoisite between the two of them as they then needed or wanted to here, they still did that. However, they were all unable to prevent Zoisite from finishing the extraction process for the first Rainbow Crystal. And Zoisite extracted the Red Rainbow Crystal from the aforementioned secretary. The secretary soon turned into another monster, a monster by the name of Shargla. Shargla soon knocked both Uranus and Neptune briefly unconscious and into two nearby walls in the Knesset's main chamber area.

Shargla had vulture-like wings, a jackal-like torso, legs, and feet, and two human-like arms with hands. Also her head essentially looked like some yet-unknown sort of cross between a typical human's head and a typical jackal's head. Human-like in the size of it and the fact that she had a mostly full head of human-style hair, and jackal-like in most, if not all, of her current facial features and her general skin/fur coloration as much as was then possible for her, in fact. Her present wingspan was several feet in size, as well. And her wings were mostly black, from where they were attached to her back around her shoulder blades. In each of her hands, she held matching daggers. She soon brandished them, and engaged the Pilgrim with them both. Shargla did that even as General Zoisite quite suddenly disappeared from the scene by choice through teleporting away from it, after having stolen the first Rainbow Crystal well enough from the secretary in question here.

While she was then engaging the Pilgrim, Skyhorse and Egypt had also begun fighting each other. As for the secretary, she'd actually dropped off into unconsciousness once the summoned monster had taken her body over well enough. In order for her to somehow become fully conscious again, though, Shargla would have to be defeated and evicted from her current host, of course. However, that might take a while, due to the fact that only Skyhorse and the Pilgrim were currently battling against Egypt and Shargla here, for all the obvious reasons.

It took at least another ten to fifteen minutes for Uranus and Neptune to finally be able to regain consciousness well enough to rejoin the fight here. By the time that they did so, Serenade had also managed to come to where the fighters were then battling in the Knesset's main chamber area, by the way. When he got there, he soon told Skyhorse to summon her bow and arrows, and shoot Shargla as many times as she could to weaken her enough at the current time. As Skyhorse did so, he began charging at Egypt, and distracting her attention away from Skyhorse, Uranus, and Neptune, who were preparing to unleash a combination attack against Shargla at the current time. As he charged Egypt, the Pilgrim climbed on board him rather quickly, and also engaged Egypt here.

Two minutes or so later, at most, Dark Sailor Egypt had been forced to quite reluctantly flee the current scene, and she'd fled it by teleporting herself out of the battle's immediate area, in fact. But not without inflicting at least a few, if not several, hurts apiece on the Pilgrim and Serenade, of course, for the obvious reasons. She teleported back to the Negaverse's current hidden base in the local area, when she left it behind, by the way. When she got there, Zoisite asked, "Did the monster kill Skyhorse and the Pilgrim?"

"I don't know yet. Three Scouts, the Pilgrim, and a horse forced me away from where you left me before I could find that out well enough. I really didn't want to leave there without taking them all out, but I still had to do that, in order to survive, quite obviously enough."

"I see. Well, then, I expect that they'll still continue to pose major problems for us in the future, of course, Dark Sailor Egypt. You still did fairly well today, I think. Get some rest, if you can, and start preparing to fight the Scouts again later on, whenever that next battle might arise for you against them."

"Unfortunately, I couldn't kill anyone, it seems."

"You'll get your chance to do that, I think, if you survive well enough, and if at all possible."

Moments later, Egypt was just Lisha again, and she returned to her family's current residence in the Jerusalem local area, wherever it was in it. By the time that she arrived back there, the rest of her family was quite soundly asleep, and not yet aware of the events that'd just transpired in and around the Knesset. She quickly showered and changed into some clothes more appropriate for her to sleep in, of course. After doing that, she soon retired to her bed, and was quite soundly asleep in it by local midnight.

After Egypt's departure, it wasn't more than about another five or so minutes before Shargla was worn down enough for Skyhorse to attempt to expel her from that secretary's body. While Skyhorse prepared to try to do that, the Pilgrim, Uranus, Neptune, and Serenade pinned Shargla to the floor, for the obvious reasons, the the best of their combined abilities to do that at that time. Once they'd all done that as best as they then could here, Skyhorse quickly dealt with Shargla in almost, if not entirely, the exact same way that she'd earlier dealt with Morga and other Negaverse-affiliated monsters, prior to Renaissance's initiation as a Sailor Scout.

It didn't take too much longer, of course, for Shargla to be evicted from that secretary's body, and for her to be destroyed as needed here. After she was unquestionably destroyed once and for all, the secretary began to stir. When the Scouts saw that, Skyhorse had Serenade and the Pilgrim leave immediately. But not Uranus or Neptune, for she suddenly had this rather strange feeling that they might somehow be able to identify the newly-recovered secretary by name here.

After the Pilgrim and Serenade had both finally left the area behind well enough to suit Skyhorse here, Skyhorse asked Uranus and Neptune to place the secretary on a bench of sorts she'd just seen in the Knesset's main chambers. So Uranus and Neptune did that here, of course. With that done, Skyhorse, Uranus, and Neptune then waited for the secretary to wake up fully here, by the way.

It was nearly 10:45 pm local time when the secretary finally woke up enough to recognize the fact that three Scouts were with her at the current time. She asked them, "Who are you, and why am I here?"

"You must have been doing something for your boss here in the Knesset. Some monsters decided to attack in and around this place, and we Scouts and others fought against them. We are Sailors Skyhorse, Uranus, and Neptune." Skyhorse introduced all three of the Scouts as needed here, of course.

Uranus and Neptune briefly studied the secretary here, who now appeared to be in her early to middle twenties, at most, and then Neptune said, "This secretary's name is Meital Pilenja. She is an aunt to Alexis Herschel, it seems."

"That's right, Neptune. I am one of Alexis Herschel's aunts. But how did you know that?"

"I'm a friend of hers, and I've known her for at least a little while, as well. That's how I happen to know that here about you, Mrs. Pilenja."

"And what about you, Uranus?"

"I am aware of that as well, Mrs. Pilenja. I also happen to know that her boss is also very glad that she helps him with his assorted Knesset-related duties, if and whenever possible, in her own life."

Not too much later, then, Skyhorse, Uranus, and Neptune left the Knesset's main chambers behind with Meital Pilenja, once it was safe enough for them all to do that here. This, of course, was for all the obvious reasons. Not long after that, they turned Meital over to the necessary medical personnel now on the Knesset's grounds. And they soon rejoined the rest of the then-present Scouts and their various allies, for that matter, after doing that well enough here.

By 11:30, then, all the Scouts and all their various allies had left the Knesset's grounds behind, if and whenever possible, for assorted other places in the local area. Even Skyhorse, in fact, did so. She finally arrived back in the cavern again by 12:30 in the morning of Tuesday, March 5, 1991. After she did that, and had calmed down as best as she then could, she eventually began preparing herself for bed. But not before taking a short shower, changing her clothes, and working for at least another thirty minutes on some homework she still had to do there, by the way.

Sylvia eventually retired to her bed by 2, at the very latest. She was quite soundly asleep in it again by 2:15. And dreaming about what the future might possibly ever hold for her and for Rolando, at least, if not for any other sentients as well. She didn't yet know fully what to expect about the future. But she still hoped that it'd not always be quite as hard for her and others as it'd been for about six or so months, more or less, for her and/or for them. This was for all the obvious reasons, quite naturally enough.

* * *

The following day, which was Wednesday, March 6, 1991, after school was over for her and many other students in the local area, Sylvia went to one of the various art galleries in it. When she did so, she brought several of her more recently-created artworks with her to that place. She arrived there by 4:15 in the afternoon, in fact. And when she got there, after heading there right after school ended for her, she rather unexpectedly encountered both Michelle and Alexis in a showroom, bringing assorted paintings that Michelle had done not too long before into there as well.

Sylvia saw them before they did her, and she was alone at the moment when she did. In Sylvia's hands, she held a medium-sized sculpture of several animals in a circle around an angel with a flaming sword pointed toward the sky. Among the various animals present in that very same circle were an eagle, a lion, a horse, and a dog, by the way. Rabbits and assorted other animals were also present either as part of the circle, inside it, or outside it, as well. This sculpture was about two feet wide, two feet tall, and about four feet long, at the greatest extents for each aforementioned dimension.

Sylvia soon placed that sculpture on an appropriately-sized pillar in the same showroom that she'd just seen Michelle and Alexis in. And then she went back for more of the artwork she was bringing at this time to this particular Jerusalem-area art gallery. While she was doing that, Michelle and Alexis continued to place certain artwork of Michelle's elsewhere in the same showroom.

Michelle's work would take up about a third to a half of that showroom, while Sylvia's would take up about the same amount of space in it, for that matter. Michelle's artwork would generally be directly opposite of Sylvia's in it, unless otherwise necessary at the current time, given the circumstances then present in it. A good-sized pool/fountain then took up about ten percent or so of the applicable showroom, more or less.

The fountain's three basins mostly featured assorted mythological and historical figures on them, with at least a few literary characters also on them as might then be appropriate enough for said fountain's basins. The basins got larger and larger from the top down. Meaning that the smallest basin of all three basins was the one at the top, and the largest one was the one at the bottom. The middle basin's size was about halfway between the sizes of the two above and below it. All three basins for the fountain were actually connected to each other by a tree trunk-like pillar of some yet-unknown sort that reached to about six feet below the main ceiling of the showroom they were now in. There were several tree-like branches that extended from that pillar, and some of them even supported each basin as might then be appropriate for them to do here. Around the fountain, the pool extended about another four feet or so, at most, at its greatest extent. And several birds of various kinds were even swimming in that pool, if they weren't perched anywhere on the fountain.

By the time that Sylvia returned back to the applicable showroom for the last time, then, Michelle and Alexis had finished bringing in and setting up all of Michelle's work there. After that became the case, they began looking all around the rest of the showroom, just to see if anyone else had decided to bring anything else at all there as well, for whatever reason. They both eventually saw Sylvia's animal and angel-related sculpture, and began examining it as Sylvia brought the last of the artwork she was then going to show at the art gallery for a while into that showroom, in fact.

They were both still examining it when Sylvia saw them looking at it. And Sylvia soon asked them, after hanging a seascape painting with two yachts in it on a nearby wall in her part of the showroom, "Do you like my 'Garden Defender' sculpture, you two?"

Michelle turned around and faced Sylvia, and said, "It's yours, Miss Wakefield?"

"That it is, Miss Gallenski. It took me about four months to sculpt and decorate as needed, in fact. Most of it is in marble. And other parts of it are in jade, for instance. Other materials are also present besides marble and jade, by the way. It would probably take me at least five to ten minutes to mention them all well enough, though, if they needed to be mentioned at all."

Alexis said, "You seem to have done quite well with it, from what I can currently tell about it here well enough, Miss Wakefield."

"Thank you, Miss Herschel. What kind of artwork did you bring with you to this showroom yourself, Miss Gallenski, if I may ask you this here? And why aren't you with your family right now, seeing as it's your birthday, if I remember what you've told me about yourself well enough by now?"

Michelle soon brought Alexis and Sylvia to a much larger sculpture than Sylvia's animal and angel one that mainly featured several merpeople, with most of those merpeople being covered mermaids of various ages, assorted sea creatures, water-based sailing ships, and assorted rock formations for it. Three young-appearing dolphins were now leaping out of an artificial ocean of some sort, being supported in the sculpture by several merpeople's hands, for that matter, as might then be necessary for them here. Atop one of the rock formations, a mermaid, which seemed to look quite a lot like Michelle did now, except for the obvious difference that she had a tail and Michelle had legs, was now playing a violin. "I'm not actually with my family right now, because we're actually going to be celebrating my 15th birthday this weekend instead of doing that today, at my own personal request. I really wanted to have today and tonight, at least, to myself and/or Alexis, if nobody else as well, after school, in fact, Miss Wakefield," answered Michelle, eventually, when she then felt the need for her to answer Sylvia's earlier question here about why she wasn't with her family now.

When Sylvia spotted that mermaid, she soon asked Michelle, "Is that mermaid essentially a representation of you, Miss Gallenski?"

"I believe so. I got the idea for this particular sculpture here while I was reading up on Neptune a while back. And I finished it in just about three weeks' worth of work, more or less, Miss Wakefield, once I had all the necessary materials together to allow me to do it well enough. That's supposing that I didn't already have them together for myself, of course."

"I see. Not bad at all, if I must say so myself. This scene seems rather familiar to me, though, for some yet-unknown reason. I don't know why it does, but it still does, just the same, Miss Gallenski."

Alexis asked, "Is there anything else you like to do that we might not yet know about well enough, Miss Wakefield? If you don't mind us asking you that here, that is, of course."

"I often like to ride horses, whenever I can, Miss Herschel."

"Do you have a favorite horse to ride? And if so, where does he stay, generally?"

"As a matter of fact, I do, Miss Herschel. It is the same horse that Skyhorse often rides, whenever she can, by the way. His name is Moonlight Serenade. And he stays at a place called 'Sweet Musicalisti,' whenever he possibly can do that, for that matter."

"I see. And where is 'Sweet Musicalisti,' if I may ask, Miss Wakefield?"

"Sweet Musicalisti is elsewhere in the area. Would you like to come there after we get done here, perhaps, Miss Herschel?"

Alexis thought about the idea for a few moments in relative silence, before answering, "Sure, why not, Miss Wakefield? It might prove rather enjoyable for Michelle and I, as well, I think."

For quite a while longer, then, the three young women examined many, though not all, of the various artworks now present in the showroom they were in here. Whether they'd actually been done by Michelle, Sylvia, or someone else entirely, they still did so. And even while they were still continuing to get to know each other much better than they already did in all of their respective lives, for that matter. Supposing that they'd not done that before in them all well enough, of course.

By 7:15 in the evening, then, Sylvia, Michelle, and Alexis left the art gallery behind for the rest of the evening and/or night. Sylvia took them to Sweet Musicalisti's grounds, and they arrived there by 7:45, at the very latest. For traffic between the art gallery and Sweet Musicalisti was rather light then, by the way.

They arrived there by 7:45 in the evening. And by 8, they were visiting with Moonlight Serenade a bit, at least, if not also preparing him for another ride. In fact, Sylvia quickly saddled him, and took him to a nearby riding area on the grounds, while Alexis and Michelle watched her do those things here. By 8:05, Sylvia and Serenade were making circles around that area, as Michelle and Alexis watched them from a nearby fence.

Sylvia rode Serenade for about thirty or so minutes, before Michelle said, "Miss Wakefield, I wonder if you want to be a jockey or something similar in the future, when you get out of school well enough."

"I don't think that sort of thing will actually happen to be the case for me in it, Miss Gallenski. Or at least not very often, if at all, anyway. I have certain other hopes and plans for the rest of my life, and I really hope that I get to live them quite well enough, for that matter, in it. Leave that sort of thing for those who might be more interested in such things. Sure, I might do those things at least once or twice in my life, but I don't expect to do them quite often in it, for I have other plans in mind instead."

"I see. And what would you like to do in your life, then, if you can, Miss Wakefield?" asked Michelle, as she sipped a bit of tea from a cup she often would carry in her own purse, if and whenever possible.

Sylvia said, "I would like to be someone who often rides horses for pure enjoyment, who often gardens, who often paints, and often quilts, at least in my spare time, whatever there may be of it. I'd also really like to have a good-sized family with a wonderful Christian man, and to serve the Lord of all Creation, for the rest of my life, if I possibly can." She frowned briefly, but neither Michelle nor Alexis caught her doing so here.

"Anything else, Miss Wakefield?" asked Alexis, all while also briefly running her left hand through her own hair here.

"I probably wouldn't mind trying to do a little horse breeding myself as well. But I honestly think that I might not be able to do much of it, if any of it, at all for at least a while, in my life, Miss Herschel. I really can't exactly tell you just why I think that here and now, if I'll ever be able to. But I still honestly think that here and now, just the same." After Sylvia said those things, she soon began preparing Moonlight Serenade for the end of their current riding session here. She then began the necessary cool-down process for him in rather short order, after she'd said those things to Alexis and Michelle here.

By 9:05, then, that cool-down process was almost over, and Sylvia was bringing Serenade to his stall area. When they got there, she told Serenade to stand near Michelle and Alexis while she prepared his stall for his imminent use. He immediately complied with all of her instructions to that effect. And she soon had his stall taken care of in the necessary manners, thanks to Reuben and Timothy's earlier work in it while she'd still been at school, in fact. When his stall was ready, she took off his bridle, saddle, and all related paraphernalia as quickly and as efficiently as she then could, of course. And then she had him enter his stall again, for that matter. She petted him briefly, and then set off for the necessary area elsewhere on the stable complex's grounds, after first retrieving some things from her van there. Michelle and Alexis soon followed her to that other area, but stayed outside of it as needed, for the obvious reasons.

It wasn't more than fifteen minutes later when Sylvia emerged from the area she'd just gone to on the grounds wearing a navy blue sweatshirt and blue jeans over a pair of sneakers. It was about 9:40 pm when Michelle and Alexis saw her again there. And then the three of them soon left Sweet Musicalisti's grounds for the rest of the night, of course. Sylvia returned them to the art gallery they'd all been at before, and then parted from them both for the rest of the night as well.

Sylvia returned to the cavern again by 11, after making one more patrol around the area in her van, for the obvious reasons. She patrolled in her civilian state of being as she did so, for that matter. And she found no more unwanted trouble as she did so, in fact. So she soon returned to the cavern, and parked her van there.

She spent about the next hour or two, at least, after getting back there well enough mainly either working on her homework or having a rather late supper, by the way. Supper for her on the current night eventually turned out to be part of a chicken casserole, some macaroni and cheese, some black cherry yogurt, some chocolate milk, and several dinner rolls with peanut butter and grape jelly inserted into them as she saw fit. After finishing her supper, then, she quickly took care of the necessary food, dishes, glasses, and silverware, of course. Those things were all taken care of by 12:15 in the morning, after which she either worked on her homework or prepared herself for bed again in her life.

By 12:45, then, she finished the last of the homework she still had to do before the upcoming day of school for herself. And she began to prepare herself for bed, not too much later, as well. No matter how she had to do it or wanted to do it, she still did so, in fact. All the necessary and desired things she usually did before heading to her bed at night were done quite well enough, then, by 1:05 in the morning. She climbed into her bed about five minutes after that, and soon turned off the necessary lights in her part of the cavern. Sylvia was quite soundly asleep in her bed there by 1:15 in the morning of Thursday, March 7, 1991, lost in any of the countless lands of dreams that might or might not actually exist anywhere or anywhen in the Universe's history, for that matter. And she'd not likely rise again from it for at least another five or so hours, more or less. If not even longer than that, of course.

* * *

So concludes the third chapter of Book II of this story series. If you like what you see of it well enough, for at least the time being, then you know what to do. That is all. TUS out. 


End file.
